From LBCC reports
A last minute penalty-kick goal by freshman forward Kevin Morgan salvaged what was going to be a Long Beach City College loss, instead creating a 1-1 draw against El Camino College – Compton Center in a South Coast Conference game at LBCC on Friday. Today’s contest closed out the Vikings’ regular-season home schedule.
The tie moved the Vikings’ record to 14-3-5 overall and 6-3-3 in the SCC while Compton fell to 7-9-6 and 3-6-3 in conference play. Despite outshooting Compton by a 22-6 margin in the game, the Vikings were held scoreless until the fifth and final minute of added injury time in the second half.
The Vikings had a pair of golden opportunities to score. In the 30th minute, Glen O’Gara’s throw-in near the net appeared to have been redirected in for a goal, but the referee ruled the ball was untouched and the goal was waved off. In the 68th minute, Morgan’s breakaway shot from the left side nailed the near post and was cleared away.
Compton broke the scoreless tie in the 56th minute. After a Long Beach foul, Francisco Romero’s free kick cross pass was headed in by Edgar Espinosa past LBCC goalie Chris DeWalt to give Compton the 1-0 advantage. The Vikings kept pressuring Compton’s defense over the final minutes and got a break when a Compton defender was called for a hand ball inside the penalty box area.
Morgan struck his PK shot to the right side past a diving Francisco Penalosa for the equalizer. Just moments after the ensuing kickoff, the closing whistle was blown. DeWalt made just one save for the Vikings, while Penalosa was credited with 10 saves.
The Vikings return to action on Tuesday (Nov. 11) with a 4 p.m. SCC game at East Los Angeles College.